Being healthy is hard.

So, some yucky honesty time.  I was doing okay on my resolution to quit drinking soda, until I had a miscarriage and fell off the wagon.  Between the miscarriage, Pam's death, and the general stress of daily life, I lost weight then packed it all back on.  July SUCKED.  August wasn't much better.  October's been pretty good so far.

I'm back on the wagon, though.  No more soda!  I drink a lot of juice and tea.  So much juice!  I've been drinking a lot of Bolthouse Farm's Green Goodness lately.  My favorite tea for on the go is Sweet Leaf Mint and Honey Green Tea.  It's so awesome.  I've been thinking about getting a reusable bottle and a tea pitcher and making my own tea at home.  Much cheaper.  Of course, I could always just re-use the glass bottle I have left over from yesterday's tea.

Damion and I have resolved to not to buy junk food for the house.  We went shopping last week and bought all healthy stuff that requires us to actually cook.  Lots of fruit and veggies.  I have noticed that with healthier food, I eat less.  I don't feel so hungry.  Also, I drink more water, and everyone says that often when you think you're hungry, it's really your body wanting more water.  So I give myself more water.

I pee more now.

We have a puppy now, so we get out a lot more because she technically lives at my mom's house.  We try to see her everyday, and take her out to a park or something.  Running around with Liv and Kiera (the puppy) gets us more exercise.  I don't think I've lost any weight yet, but I feel better (with the exception of the cold I had earlier this week), and that's more important.  Looking better would be nice, but I want to concentrate on feeling better first.

And now....PUPPY PICTURES!

She's much bigger now.  These I took the first day we rescued her.  She's almost four month old now, and according to the vet, she's a black lab and Belgian Malinois mix.  For those of you who have know idea what that latter one is (I certainly didn't), here's a picture of a pup that looks a LOT like Kiera does now, only Kiera's black with more of a lab look around the eyes and snout.

Livibelle, the Animal-Talent Fairy Part 2

I found a green leafy/flower print shirt on summer clearance, and paired it with a purple thermal undershirt since it will be COLD on Halloween this year, by all accounts.  She has purple wings, a frilly green costume skirt that we'll pair with her purple pants or purple tights, depending on how cold it actually is that day.  She has a Tinkerbell trick or treat bag and she's going to take Jane with us.  Her friend Talia is also going as a fairy for Halloween, so they'll match.  It will be heinously adorable.  Plan on seeing pictures next week.

Livibelle, the Animal-Talent Fairy Part 1

You can probably guess what this post is about.  That's right, it's Halloween costuming time again and this year Liv finally decided on a fairy.  Last year she'd wanted to be Coraline since pretty much the moment she watched the movie, but this year there was a lot of indecision.  She was thinking about Velma for the longest time, especially after we got her hair cut, but I reminded how much she'd wanted to be a fairy after her friend Talia was one last year, and we set about deciding which kind of fairy from the Disney Fairies of Pixie Hollow she wanted to be.  It came down to water- or animal-talent, and taking our new puppy, Kiera, and a stuffed animal got her set on animal.  So now comes the fun part, where I look for her costume pieces.  Yay.

So far, these are my favorite wings:

These come in a close second:

Realistically, however, I'll probably wind up just picking some up locally on the cheap.  But I like to make my ideal costume first, then budget it down as I go.  

Liv's hair is fine the way it is, so no need for a wig or anything.  If she wants some sort of hair accessory, then that's bonus.  Her outfit will be in forest colors, and I'm going to try to find things with a leaf or animal motif.